Aults Place

Subtitle

Just a place to relax, read and either agree or disagree, but in good faith to all. You won't find anything that you wouldn't share with someone you want to share something with in this area...It is just a place where I can tell you about the thoughts for the day and occasionally about a new book by myself or someone else...

The angry storms cannot be regulated. They are nature’s way of cleansing the earth. It is an uncontrollable environment we live with each and every day of our lives, never knowing where or when a catastrophic storm might occur.

Perhaps now, after being devastated by two hurricanes, the people who have been demonstrating, demolishing historical monuments, and harming each other will see what damage can be done by needless anger and discover what is really important.

Unlike weather, manmade storms could be eliminated if all people would follow what has been laid out for them for centuries. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you,” might be a good direction to consider. The weather cannot think, but people can, if they just would!

We have seen the manifestation of wind and rain. We have seen the destruction made by bombs and mortars. Why can’t we also see the damage made by words and actions? So often we lash out at things we don’t understand rather than face them in a rational way. The first reaction of us humans is to kill or disable something we don’t understand. We prefer to eliminate rather than investigate.

Imagine what it would be like, that if instead of spending billions of dollars every day on destruction, we spent, along with other countries, the same amount to make the world a better place to live in. It would eliminate worldwide poverty and restore dignity. Can you imagine enjoying the culture of a particular race of people? The African cultures, the Spanish dancers, Asian foods, or a host of other wonderful new things that could be experienced and understood? Wouldn’t it be exciting to visit another country and see those people living the lifestyles unique to their culture?

In this barbaric world, power and ownership have continued to be goals. We, as a world, are in a position to eliminate all poverty, misery, and hatred by eliminating greed and instilling that “do unto others” attitude. Every country has something to share with their neighbors if the fences were torn down.

It is possible, that through these tremendous storms in our and other countries where severe wind, flooding, and mudslides have taken so many lives, we could change our understanding of what is really important! We can, we should, but will we?

During the last election phase in our great country, we endured one of the most foolish periods that I can remember with respect to our "hopeful" candidates for president, who spent most of their time fighting among themselves, rather than concentrating on what was important to us, the voters.

Along came a man who said what he thought, and for the most part, I agreed with what he thought. I didn't necessarily approve of his tactics, but he did say what a lot of us were thinking at the time. Then the time came to cast our votes, and cast them we did. Will the true outcome of that voting ever be knoiw? I doubt it! Never the less, that man became our president.

We have elected a president that I hoped we could all get behind. Granted he came on strong trying to implement his ideas, but having no regard for the system, he has failed in many ways. Have we all made a mistake? Could we have done better? Perhaps, but we will not know for some time if the choice was right or wrong, but in the meantime, it should be our duty to get behind the president and help him do what he said he was going to do.The question now is, can we?

Unfortunately, it is starting to appear that we may have elected a man who touts himself as a great salesman, but all I see so far is a very well to do man, who started out life with a lot of money, has never had to get down in the trenches and worry about the next day's meal. The problem with this type of person ( and don't get me wrong, there is more than one of them in our hiearchy of government) is he really has no concept of how the rest of us live! He (they) can read about it, can converse about it, can watch others suffer through it, but they have not lived it!

I could be wrong, but it seems to me a president should be a solid leader, a person who works the system well, speaks clearly to his constituents, and thinks before he tweets. (Should I have said speaks?) There are many people who "tweet" these days, who use Facebook as a means of communication, and have all but forgotten how to carry on a conversation without those devices. While our president appears to think that this new communiation is the answer, perhaps he should consider it is more like a cloak to hide behind.

I want to know where the man I voted for went! Is he hiding behind all of those relataives and friends he placed in various positions where they have no business being placed in, sitting in a corner with his cell phone tweeting his annoyance around the world? Isn't it time for him to stop his childish ways, grown up, and be a president?

He has to make a choice, to be presidential, or to continue to be "not presidential!" LIke had been said in the past, "If its too hot in the kitchen, get out!"

Not so long ago, in the land of common sense and simplicity, there was a place you could buy needed drugs to ease pain and medicate the body as doctor recommended. During that time you rarely saw money wasted on advertising available drugs.

In those days, one could go to the doctor, meet the secretary/nurse/insurance clerk/doctor assistant, which was (believe it or not) one person. This one person generally knew you by name and had your name written down, or typed, along with the scheduled time to see the good doctor, it was called an appointment. An appointment meant that you would see and talk to your doctor at an elected time and date, and he was there. You could plan your day, because within a few minutes, he was there as he said that he would be.

Another wonderful thing in those days was that one could actually pay the doctor, in cash, on the spot! You could generally afford it! There was no up-front payment (co-payment) and no yearlong wait for another bill to come from people you can’t see or talk to. Frequently they request that you pay for a many medical codes that frightened you just to read them, let alone try to figure out what they mean…or for that matter, frequently left wondering if they were even yours.

Today, we pay for a few unseen things, none of which actually applies to the doctor/patient relationship.

1. Lobbyist: (804 in 2016) Works for the pharmaceutical industry. To influence lawmakers toward their goals.

Not long ago, men were men, women were women, and children were, well let’s just say that they were children.

Yesteryear. I was a child, according to the guidelines of the time, until I reached that magic age of 21. I did some childish things, just like other children did. They were not well thought out, but often, a test of wills, more than anything else. I was not incarcerated for the silly things I did, but I was dealt with in a way I understood, that if I did it again, certain consequences would be in my future. I was loved, and through that love, I was also punished appropriately, if the thing I did was requiring of that act. Parents were my guide, through love.

Today. A child (someone under 18) performs a foolish act, and gets caught. Immediately 911 is called, the child is held by someone in authority, then taken into custody, and charged for the act, then detained in a juvenile detention place, or put on display for everyone to ridicule. This act frequently gives the child a perverse opinion of the police and any authority. Government is their guide, through fear and without love.

They now see themselves as:

(1) An awful person, doomed to be forever badly thought of, thereby eliminating any self-esteem he or she might have had, and on down the wrong road.

OR

(2) Loving the attention they received, and deciding it was a great idea and will try something similar, as soon as possible, to retain that attention from his/her peers.

I am not advocating that children should pull pranks and get away with it. I do suggest that kids need guidance. That guidance should start at home, and it should carry through with intelligence and common sense, rather than some new law that make all things seem black or white.

Children need to understand right from wrong. They need to learn to take things less seriously. When every word spoken is to hurt, something is wrong in our society. When we reward anyone for doing nothing, rather than pushing them to achieve, we are killing competitiveness, and replacing it with weakness.

We now live with fear of our neighbor, distrust of our friends, and a loss of morality. What happened?

The first paragraph in the July 22nd article about “laughing teens” says it all.

The problem with our “legal experts” is they have disregarded all common sense, common decency, and certainly all moral, responsibility. It is incomprehensible that anyone, young adult, adult, or child could be educated at home or anywhere else to believe that laughing at a person drowning is funny.

It was pointed out to me that we have so much garbage on television being watched and somehow approved of, that it is no wonder our youth think everything is okay as long as it does not affect them directly. Some parenting in this case could be a benefit!

The show on television that people find so funny, where people do stupid tricks and frequently get hurt badly, just so they can be on television and win a prize, for being stupid, amazes me. Does anyone that watches those programs consider the idiocy of the actions made, or is just me that does not find pain humorous?

In ancient times, people were devoured in the arena by lions, massacred by other people with swords, chains, and all of the other weapons of those times, just to please a crowd of people wanting to see blood. Should we start using the arenas we now have for sporting events, invite the mayor of the city, and let him/her turn their thumb up for life, or down for death, depending on the desires of the fans? Should we should start that new sport with the ‘so called’ judges that interpret the law the way they see it and expect us to buy it!

Have we, as a country of people, reached back in time to bring forward this horror and total lack of morality to please ourselves, while watching others suffer? Before this becomes a new national spectator sport, maybe we should put a stop to it!

Our Supreme Court interpretations have become a wart on the constitution and the amendments. Some are so old they can hardly walk or think, others are so political they have no idea what was meant when the constitution was written. Those that interpret the law should have to be judged as they judge.

Remember that old adage, "Early to Bed, Early to Rise? Well, I have come to the conclusion that whoever wrote that was probably from firm farm stock and did not live in the same block that I do now, or did way back when either..
I talked to my Doctor the other day and he asked, "Are you getting eight hours a night."
I looked at him and asked, "Eight hours of what?"
He looked at me like I had just evaded the most important question of my life, and he had no idea why, I thought I asked a simple question about his question.
He then said, "Eight hours of sleep, what did you think I was talking about?"
Well, I figured that was about enough questioning for one day, so I just put my jacket back on and turned to leave. He stopped me and suggested that maybe, at my age, I needed some kind of mental help. I returned his gaze, and instead of answering the last of his invasive questions, suggested that he must have been reading a chart that belongs to someone else because I work 8 hours, play for another couple of hours, write my books for fours, talk to my wife ( or listen, depending on the day) for another three hours, talk on the phone or handle email, facebook, tweeter/twitter for another three hours, and then there is the time spent eating (which is another two hours for three meals), and one hour for snacks and a before bed cocktail. That only leaves me about an hour of actual sleep time; of course that does not include dozing time when I am too bored to do anything else.
Now he could not understand that, but then again he isn't as old as I am. That dozing time could be quite lengthy at times. For instance, the other day when I was working at the computer something crazy happened with the time. I started at two in the afternoon, and the next time I looked at the time on the monitor it was five thirty. I don't understand where the time went since I only had typed one page of my book, but I figured that I spent three and one half hours on the computer, even if I could not account for it...or maybe the computer time was wrong?
At any rate, I have decided that at my age I have to know more than that doctor that continuously takes my money and leaves me nothing to show for it except advise. I kind of wish that I had had a job like that early on because I have always been good at giving advise, even when not asked for, and I could have laid aside a sizable amount of cash had I charged for it like he does.
Well, I guess I have talked too much already, so let me just say that you should spend more time doing intelligent things, like reading my books and not my tirades written in this blog.
Love you guys (and gals)
Tom

Well the elections are over, the fights are still raging, and people are still not settled in on the new programs which are coming whether we like them or not.
I don't know about you, but I think it is time for us to settle down, read a good book (hopefully not one filled with those "F" words to a point you want to gag!
I haven't had any comments for a long time, so I just thought I might let you know what is happening around the Ault Place.
1. We decided to move to a different place, one where you don't mow, you don't shovel and you can just relax with your hobbies. Did you know that I like to do simple wood working? I am not great but I do enjoy being in my own workshop.
2. I have a great room to write in and do research in. Where do you do these things? Library? Home Office? Outside? Inside?
3. PJ has had a cancer operation and I am glad to report that she is doing very well and has ridded her body of he blasted thing...we think!
4. We voted, our guy gto in...now we have to listen to the exaggerations of a lifetime. I think he means well, but the extensions of the facts get a bit out of hand.
5. I decided to build something for my wife...a Necklace Hidaway...something to put here necklaces in, hang on the wall behind the door and make it look like a
full length mirror...hey, if you haven't tried it, don't knock it.
6. Painting some woodwork, straightening some light switch plates and painting a little outdoor door to the patio.
7. Working driving cars for a Ford Distributor...I seem something new everyday, although I only drive back and forth between two towns. But during that driving time I
I do a lot of thinking about what to write next.
Oh, I forgot to mention I am on chapter 7 of a new Deavereau mystery...I am only about four months behind, unfortunately.
Well, that is about it for the Ault household other than my granddaughter has now written and published two books about her area of the country, and son Mike has added a couple of books to his group of published writings.
Now it is your turn...how about writing something about yourselves that others may enjoy...after all we are just a happy family of writers and/or authors....right??

I write a lot of blogs, some importtant, some not so important, but always open and hoping for a response. I have not had any responses at all from any of my posts, so I wonder if they are read by anyone.

Just for the heck of it...if you have read, or are reading any of them...or if you check out the various things on this site, please send me an email at tom@aultsplace.com and in the subject write "your website." Okay??

The Minimum Age has been written about, talked about, and both rallied for and against by many. Some are educated, some are not educated, and some leave doubt as to their abilities…I guess I fit into the last description of people.

It is good to always look at both sides of a question before submitting oneself to other’s criticism which could be either beneficial or vindictive.

Pro-minimum wage earners I have spoken to or listened to while they are speaking to others, seem to fall into two basic categories; (1) Those working part time that are in school or should be in school, thereby lacking skills necessary to get a better paying job (2) Those who have little opportunity to do anything else, for instance a person that perhaps cannot get skills beyond their mental capacity, and those who simply are not qualified for anything else.

As I recall in years long past, the local soda jerk at the drugstore fountain most generally was a high school student, or a young college student with a summer job. He/she enjoyed making those wonderful milk shake, malted milks, and sodas. (which have somehow disappeared from the earth) There were also those slave labor jobs like I had as a plaster’s assistant, the guy who got to haul the scaffolding from job to job and set it up, mix the plaster and keep it coming to the plasterer. Or the delivery boy for the local newspaper, magazine company, or perhaps an automotive parts house. Yes, did that too.

We have to remember that some of these people who have no upward mobility ability do need help. They do need more money that “minimum wage,” but the question is where does that required wage draw the line with common sense?

Unfortunately, we have now sent our low paying jobs that the unskilled people can do, to other countries. As you no doubt can recall, this new employment requirement of two years college started not too awfully long ago…that meant that a lot of the people promoted into a management position with the company, decided to impose, upon new hirees, that extra burden which they did not have placed upon themselves, when they were hired.

My first job in the real world was a credit manager for a large corporation branch outlet. A high school diploma was all that was required. Today they want you to have a degree in economics and business. Have we gone a bit overboard on this? Everyone cannot afford college or for one reason or another, cannot take the time to continue with their education.

Con-minimum wage earners that I have talked to, or read about, have another take on this all together, and it happens to be one that I totally agree with, well maybe not totally, but pretty much agree with.

Throughout history, we have been a country filled with people who have believed, as the little engine insisted he could, that they could. They discovered that to obtain that station in life they wished to attain, hard work was necessary. Few had the silver spoon syndrome. Education of one kind or another was necessary, but not always the “book learning” type was the type required. For instance, the welder, the miner, the tanner, the mechanic, the carpenter and so on. What these people required was the desire to learn a trade, the ability to listen and follow directions, to learn what was being taught by a professional tradesman.

The problem we face today is not one of a learning wage (minimum age in many cases) but rather one of having a job that has not been shipped out to some other country.

Our leaders have overlooked the very thing that made this country a strong one, and that is diversity of people and their abilities. Rather than continue with jobs, here in this country, that offer a man a living wage, we have bred a society of desire. I don’t want you to feel that desire is bad, but when it is turned to greed, it is no longer a worthy cause. An example of this could be divided into several groups. For instance, the athletic coach who receives several million dollars a year while a professor teaching a skill that can be used for a lifetime earns far, far less…not even one tenth of that coaches salary. How many athletes are there versus other fields of employment? What about the medical profession where doctors and dentists and other medical professionals have to spend excessive dollars on education when those dollars could be far less if we still had colleges that taught the skills they were founded for, rather than supporting many things that have little to do with education. Would this not have an effect on the cost of living we now have? How about the corporations that pay their presidents in the millions each year while paying the workers far, far less?

Don’t be mistaken about what is happening. It is not all bad, but it could be much better if instead of caring only about profit, the care might extend to those that actually create the product that produces that profit.

While visiting a particular foreign country a few years ago, I found streetcars with the electric arm on top, similar to the ones I remember when a grade school student. I discovered apartment buildings that were falling apart and bed sheets hanging in the windows…these were for the working class of people. This is what happens when a country government makes all of the decisions, handles all of the medical necessities, owns all of the businesses or dictates how they should be run, and promises all of the people a free education, free health care system, or perhaps a free retirement when they are no long able to work which many times is when they are totally disabled due to age. (I met a woman there who was thrilled to get her potato for the week. She told me she was very appreciative of a government who was so caring about her and her peers to be sure they were fed and clothed and could not fathom a country who would expect their people to take care of themselves)

When we dictate a minimum wage that is to be paid regardless of the output of the receiver, without the desire of the employee to better him or herself, without giving them an opportunity to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps…the democracy we have lived with for so long will no longer exist.

Summarizing this rather long dissertation, I will just say that minimum wage, set by a government made up of politicians that make rules for the citizens that do not apply to themselves, is not a minimum wage for the benefit of the people, but rather a crutch for a group of people that no longer have the desire to be better, those that would rather have a potato to rely on than a meal to appreciate.

Sometimes we have to just sit back, watch and listen and not be caught up in what is being said, but what is the true meaning, and then we must consider how what we are hearing might effect the rest of our lives...such is the poitical arena today...a lot of retoric, but terribly low on substance.

This is not something that is being crammed down anyone's throat but really something for you to consider as you listen to the things being tossed about..

Do you remember the bullies of your school years? Try to remember them and the classmates of the time, when you were there!

Today is the first day of your new world. For each of us, when we arise from the sleep we have received, as a gift from God, it is a new day blessed with refreshed thought and memories that we should base our lives on.

Throughout this world, today, there are millions of people who have no good memories of yesterday, or yesteryear, only the thoughts of what they will be facing today, as they arise from the broken promises of yesterday. These are the peoples of those countries that have lost their identities, their possessions, and in many cases what little freedom they once had. These are the people of Socialistic, Communistic, and other similar governments that are controlled by a few, while they are among the majority in population, but still minorities since they have no say in anything…they are like ants wandering around the earth doing the bidding of their queen and only concerned about her abundance of eggs that make their population continue.

Are we like those ants? Do we really want to live with only one objective in mind and it is not even our own desire or wish?

Consider this:

George was given an exorbitant amount of money to start his life.

George was taught from birth to be number 1 at all costs and accept nothing less.

George was a bit spoiled???

George did as he was taught, win at all costs.

George became insanely wealthy, but many times, at the expense of those less aggressive.

George now believes he is the wisest man in the world and tells everyone how wonderful he is.

There are people who believe him, because they have lost their own dreams.

The question is, should be allow George, with no knowledge of us, the poor ants, to assume control of our lives, our government, our futures?

It is the one thing that our great country askes of us…be diligent in your choices of who will be in charge! Have we given thought to the future, or are we just clinging to some ridiculous promise made to us by “Geroge,” that fellow who cannot come close to understanding you and me, the common man?

Wake up citizens of America; wake up before it is too late. Look at the history of the world and see the methods used by dictators, those elected to office for the wrong reasons, those that have taken advantage of an unfortunate guidance of a country in the past! Are we going to be taken in by a Geroge?

Remember, what we do today, as a unified citizenry, is what we will live with tomorrow…Were we not sold a bill of goods in 2008 by a fantastic orator? And again in 2012?

Think before you vote, then vote from wisdom, not salesmanship from someone who is taking you down the primrose path to destruction. Think wisely, remember what has happened, be observant of what is happening…ask yourself, “is this too good to be true?” YOU know where this is going, don’t you?